What's the Buddhist position on abortion?

[mrgorth]

Specifically regarding when the soul enters the body. Thanks.

[sangh0]

1. Buddhism emphasizes

a respect for ALL sentient life. Start there.

[elepet]

2. not sure

but i believe it is at conception.

[BlueEyedSon]

3. Learn to use Google, it's pretty useful!

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=buddhism+abortion

[mrgorth]

6. Why don't you learn to ignore posts instead?

We ask questions here.

[BlueEyedSon]

8. I thought I was answering... next time i'll ignore ya!

[mrgorth]

10. Sorry

Being an IT guy I took your suggestion the wrong way. I ovbiously use the hell out of google. Sometimes I like to get personal responses.

[idiosyncratic]

11. Yes, Google is your friend.

 

[NoSheep]

20. Let's all log off, go to Google, never contact another human being

again. amen.;-)

[htuttle]

4. Any taking of life violates the 'first precept' of Buddhism...

...but then again, so does eating a hamburger.

From what I understand, Buddhism does recognize a certain moral relativity. It is acceptable to perform an abortion to save the life of the mother, for example. It also would rank abortion far behind killing a live infant -- they are not really comparable. An abortion would probably be worse than killing a dog -- it would probably depend on the specific Buddhist you ask, however.

Beyond all that, there is certainly not a belief that a 'god' is going to judge you for it. It's more for your own psychological well-being, not to satisfy an old desert war god.


NOTE AND DISCLAIMER: I'm not a full-time Buddhist, but my path has crossed it from time to time.

[ProudDad]

5. All life is one

No life is really "destroyed" and no life is "created" it's all manifestations of the "All".

Therefore, it's up to you whether you want or need an "abortion" to rearrange the matter that is this plane's physical manifestation of the "All".

Just as with any religion, you can interpret the "teachings" any way you like. This is one Buddhist's interpretation...

That's why NO religion has any place in public policy making.


:nuke: bush

[Hephaistos]

25. I like to think of Buddhism as universal solipsism

I am All, and there is really nobody or nothing else, so lawsuits are kind of pointless.

[DrWeird]

7. That fetus could be your mom.

So it's bad karma, but it's your choice.

[BlueEyedSon]

9. LOL!

[crispini]

12. Bad karma, but there are a lot of ways to create bad karma.

If you wanna make bad causes, it's your choice.

[seraph]

13. The body is the vehicle of the soul...

That should be a starting point.

[qwlauren35]

14. Depends on the Sect...

In Nichiren Buddhism, human life is a tremendous opportunity, not to be squandered. But that refers to one's OWN life, not to another person's.

I don't think the "soul entering the body" has real meaning for Buddhists; but I think I can explain one possible take.

I had two abortions. I think my beliefs are consistent with Buddhism.

The two potential human beings had VERY HEAVY, VERY NEGATIVE, VERY BAD karma to be aborted before being born. It is unimaginable to me what they may have done to have deserved such a fate. But that's what happened to them. So what happens to them next? Does hell await them? It is not clear. But it is also possible that through this experience, they have expiated/released some of their negative karma, and in the next cycle of the wheel of life and death, a kinder fate awaits them.

But Buddhists don't believe in a single chance, so it's not quite the same as Christian beliefs.

This is not to say that Buddhists don't abhor abortion; Buddhists think that all killing is wrong. But at the same time, they do not think of death as "the end" in a permanent sense.... nor is conception/birth truly a "beginning", except as the beginning of one of infinite cycles.

As for MY karma.... it is now very heavy. There is no telling how the cosmos will reckon with me. But I don't allow this reality to stop me from living as fully as possible.

[Maraya1969]

18. Ohhhh, Please stop being so hard on yourself!

:hug: Karma can be changed in one moment by adopting an attitude of love for yourself and all living things.

Personally, I have used “The Course in Miracles” as my spiritual guide and I have been told that it is concert with both Christianity and Buddhism. Only the love part of Christianity though – no hate or “sin”.

I have not done the whole course which takes a year but I listen to tapes from it and I read books – especially by Marianne Williamson

http://marianne.iamplify.com/home.jsp Her book, “A return to love” is just great!

I also have listened to “Serenity though a Course in Miracles” numerous times.

Here are a few quotes from the course that may be helpful to you.

“God does not forgive because He has never condemned”

“What is a miracle? A miracle is a correction; it doesn’t create not really change at all. It merely looks upon devastation and reminds the mind that what it sees is false”

“Guilt is totally insane and has no reason”


It also says that if you hold onto hate then YOU will hurt YOURSELF. It is not some outer being who brings in hard times but your own thoughts. Guilt, hate and fear are lower, negative energies.

I really don’t know how to explain it but I know that it has given me a tremendous amount of comfort along the years. I used to be wracked with guilt because of all the erroneous Christian beliefs I held on to.

Marianne Williamson described the part in the Bible where is says “God loves the sinner” by telling about a Yogi who explained it by saying, “They make for more interesting people” :D

I’ve also listened to Thich Nhat Hanh a Buddhist monk who talks about doing a meditation where you “smile down on yourself”

And I’ve had an abortion also. I don’t feel good about it but I have forgiven myself. “Forgiveness is the great healer”

Pardon all the quotes but, as you can probably tell, I listen to this stuff all the time – well at least every night before I go to sleep. I hate to hear of a person guilting on themselves. I'm no spirtual teacher but I do like to share what I have learned.

The souls that are aborted are part of a Divine Process also. I believe that they just go to another mother and are born into the life that they are supposed to incarnate into.



http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1559274905/ref%3Dpd%5Fsl%5Faw%5Falx-jeb-9-1%5Fbook%5F5109741%5F2/104-8446579-4310329

[qwlauren35]

19. While I agree to a point...

I've been doing a bit of reading. Surprisingly, after reading that the Buddha DID in fact condemn abortion AND in fact states that life begins at the instant of conception (which, personally, I've always pretty much believed) as well as the fact that most Theravadin Buddhists condemn abortion as well, I found the following essay to be VERY much in keeping with my own beliefs.

http://re-xs.ucsm.ac.uk/cupboard/filing/essays/essay3.htm

I don't THINK I'm hard on myself. I think it's just a recognition of right and wrong. From a religious perspective, taking life is wrong. And I know I was acting "selfishly". But I felt it was the right thing to do, and I would repeat the actions in a HEARTBEAT if I had to.

Hence, I take the karma I've got coming to me. I don't think it makes sense to be in denial about it, for that would be negating the law of cause and effect - i.e. thinking that my negative actions will not impact me. However, I also think that I will be able to expiate this karma in this lifetime.

To be honest, I only really think about it when someone brings up the abortion topic. So, 95-98% of the time, it's not on my mind at all.

[sweetheart]

22. Taking life

Every meal you eat takes life, be it plants, fish or other animals.
That people associate more karma with human lives is just a
distortion of the human mind. When a rabbit runs out in the road
and gets hit by the wheels of my car, i don't fret about the karma,
nor should any person who has an abortion.

There are living enlightened bodhisattva's today who have no issue
whatsoever with taking life, if it is the dharma. This reinterpretation of "karma" as being like "sin", is rather christian.
There is no karma. You are born in every moment, and the past
exists only if you carry it.

Namaste,
-s

[kostya]

23. I presume you mean the concious mind, which is a sliver of

what's going on in the rest of your mind/body. - K

[conflictgirl]

27. You may be interested in the article I linked in a post below

I wanted specifically to draw your attention to it, in case you didn't see it in my other post:

http://www.dharma-rain.org/StillPoint/archives/SPApr96.shtml

I am a practicing Buddhist myself and found this article when deciding what to do when I found myself pregnant following a failed vasectomy. Ordinarily I wouldn't give that much information when I'm still a new poster here ;) but I think it's relevant.

[johnnie]

15. The soul enters at birth or

...right before birth. All life is not to be destroyed if at all possible, but there are times when it can't be helped. It isn't really a cut and dry issue. All things happen and it is the "karma" that is the issue and not the action itself.

[sweetheart]

16. Reincarnation frames the discussion differently

Buddhism is rooted in self determination and free will. That alone
suggests that a womans right to choose for herself, is VERY Buddhist.

As well, this "murder" the foetus talk is framed by a society that
does not believe in reincarnation. Rather, if the mother terminates
a pregnancy, the soul simply finds another vehicle to be born in.

However, the religion "buddhism" is different from living as a
buddhist. The former has many sects and rules, more varied than
christianity. The latter is concerned with living dharma. In that
sense, each case is a unique circumstance of living truth, and no
written law is coherent with the dharma.

The dharma is what is truth right now, for me, for you, for our
society, for our world. It is not a set of rules, but something that
buddhists come to know directly. In that sense, a woman might know
that the dharma is to terminate a pregnancy if it crosses her dharma.
Just because the biological tissue reproduces given the proper
petri dish, does not make it the spiritual dharma for the soul
that inhabits the mothers body. In that sense, a fully enlightened
woman might choose to abort a child, that she might focus her
dharma on the many instead of the child.

I'm actually shocked that a bunch of folks here have interpreted
buddhism as an anti-abortion religion. Abortion is not a sin in
buddhism, as there is no sin. There are ripples of karma with all
action, and less ripples if the actions coincide with the dharma.
A buddhist asks only what is the dharma. If the society's laws
disagree with the result, then a buddhist ignores the society as
it is adharma (not-dharma).

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. I have a link to a liberal buddhist site, but I never thought to see what

they say about abortion. You might check the comparative religions sites as well. All are found in the general religious resources section.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/liberalchristians.htm

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nine30]

24. Abortion is OK as long as it is performed within 18 years after birth

If your 8 year old is not behaving, just threaten him/her with abortion. Of course you would have the law on your side.

Warn your 15 year old daughter that if she gets pregnant, you will abort them both (actually you need only do one)

[conflictgirl]

26. This is a really good article on Buddhism and abortion, IMO

http://www.dharma-rain.org/StillPoint/archives/SPMar96.shtml

In that particular article, they don't mention per se when the soul enters the body, but it states that every cell is life and there is no cut-off; there is nothing that says life begins at a certain time.